PERMAP : An Interactive Software for Perceptual Mapping.

In order to study and understand the perception of various groups of people and to understand their common viewpoint in a graphical way, we were introduced to a very interesting software called Permap. Permap turned out to be very interactive software to graphically represent the Perception of the available data collected. I could find that the software uses values, correlations, proximities, dissimilarities, etc. to construct a map showing the relationship between objects. The most unique feature of PERMAP is that it embeds the mapping techniques in an interactive, graphical system that minimizes several difficulties associated with multidimensional scaling practices. The most striking thing which differentiates it from SPSS is that it also brings the relationships between various attributes with the resultant groupings and provides line-linking options which helped to understand and to identify the nature of perceived relationships.
A major advantage of MDS and perceptual maps which I could feel is that it deals with problems associated with substantiating and communicating results based on data involving more than two dimensions. On the same page there is tab through which (if I am not wrong) up to eight multidimensional results can be obtained. It offers both metric (ratio and interval) and non-metric (ordinal, ratio + bounds, interval + bounds) MDS techniques. It can treat a large number of items at a time and those items can have multiple attributes.
PERMAP's also allows the drag-and-drop objects while the solution is running and the developing map is being displayed. PERMAP gave you more real-time control over your solution than any other MDS program. It lets you get a "feel" for the solution and it lets you see, immediately, the changes that occur if you change any of your assumptions.
The learning from this software on the very first day was full of fun and excitement and I hope to learn a lot more of it in the classes to come.

Rajeev Ranjan

Finance - Group 1